


The Third Option

by leomona



Series: Don't They Know It's The End Of The World [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Institute Ending, Spoilers for the main game, The Railroad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 07:27:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9982814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leomona/pseuds/leomona
Summary: The Director-to-be of the Institute would rather not murder her friends and allies, thanks all the same.  But neither can she let them continue operating freely.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is, of course, pure wish fulfillment; your in-game options as Director of the Institute are not precisely what I would call nuanced or varied. But I wanted to make a sole survivor who would choose the Institute while remaining a supporter of synth rights; the Railroad and how you're forced to handle them was the main problem. Since I couldn't play it, I wrote it.

 

"I've been ordered to deal with you," I tell Desdemona quietly. "All of you."

She nods, looking unsurprised. "And what are you going to do about that?"

I sigh, frustrated. "What do _you_ think?" I ask her. "Really, please tell me. What should I do here? Obviously I am not especially thrilled about this order, but it's – if I don't, that's it for me. No more Institute. No more – no more helping synths from the inside." _No more opportunity to_ truly _help them, all of them, in the long-term, to do more than just run away and spend the rest of their lives either constantly terrified or mindwiped. If you can even call it_ their _lives anymore, after the process is complete._

"Stall for now -" Dez starts to order, and I shake my head.

"They _know_ I've worked with you, Dez," I reply. "I can't – a few _days_ , sure, but any longer than that and it just won't be feasible. This is at least half a loyalty test."

"Then perhaps it's time to move forward with our plans," Dez muses. "Where are you with Patriot and the synth helping you inside the Institute?"

"That's not -" I pause, then say very carefully, "If we do this... how many synths end up free that don't even want to be? How many of them will we have to kill along the way? The Coursers certainly aren't going to welcome us with open arms. And what would we even _do_ with all of them, a group of terrified, untrained synths hated by most of the Commonwealth?"

"It's a bit late for second thoughts, Agent Whisper," Dez says sharply, looking at me with suspicion now. Suspicion I cannot pretend has ever been far from their gazes, after what I told them I found inside the Institute.

"Well, maybe I'm having them!" I tell her, abruptly losing my temper. "Maybe I'm not comfortable with this, any of this! If we destroy the Institute -" I turn away from her with a humourless laugh, rubbing my mouth and trying to collect myself. _Destroy my son, his home, everything he's built. Destroy -_ "No more Institute means no more synths. Do you _get_ that? They are the _only_ ones with the means and the knowledge to produce them. It means the slow, inevitable death of synths as a race, and that's – I _cannot_ do that, Dez. Creating the synths... it is the most amazing, beautiful, truly _awesome_ achievement in all of mankind's history, so far as I am concerned. I could no more be responsible for ending that than I could -" I laugh again, bitterly. "Than I could kill my own children."

By now, our discussion has clearly attracted the attention of the others, and I find myself wishing, abruptly, that Glory was here, rather than on her way to Malden Center for the same mission I was supposed to be doing, helping clear the way for H2-22. Or what's left of him, at least; something else I'd found myself growing more and more uncomfortable with, especially after Acadia. _You kill them, Dez,_ I've managed to keep myself from saying since I got back. _Just as surely as the Institute does when it reclaims and resets them. You're not freeing anyone; you're just stealing away the shells and destroying their inhabitants because it's easier than finding another solution that would keep them_ truly _safe. Let them live without fear._

"I always knew this was a mistake," I hear Carrington mutter, and abruptly realise, ready or not, this has to be it. No more carefully balancing my increasingly conflicting loyalties to the Railroad and the Institute. No more stalling for time to avoid having to kill Coursers whom I look at and see – not Shaun, not myself, not really, but my companion of these past six months. X6-88, with his occasional little flashes of personality, of dry humor, of – of _trust_ in me. The Coursers who, perhaps even more than all the other synths in the Institute, I want to give the opportunity to become more than they were made to be. What can I say? I've always liked a good challenge.

"All right," I say quietly, turning back to Desdemona and the others. "I think it's past time for dissembling and half-truths, don't you? Cards on the table. I've told you that – that Shaun has offered me the position of Director after he's gone. I haven't yet told you yet that I intend to accept. Lead the Institute."

Desdemona hisses, a hand unconsciously moving toward her gun. "And the Railroad?" she asks, anger creeping into the calm tone she's obviously striving to maintain. "Do we, do the synths, your _ideals_ , mean _nothing_ to you anymore, next to the comfortable life on offer?"

"I have no desire to kill you," I say evenly, ignoring the latter. If she really believes I'd do something like this for my own benefit, there's little point trying to argue otherwise, and also fuck her for not knowing me better by now. "Quite the contrary; I care for - for many of you very deeply." _One of you in particular._ "I would not only grieve to lose you, I think the Commonwealth would be a darker place without your presence. I hope to _work_ with you, once I have the freedom to do so; to figure out a way that synths who are truly unhappy in the Institute, even after I've worked to make it better for them, can live on the surface, safely, as _themselves_ , and without fear that a Courser might appear to drag them back. I hope that the fact it would be _me_ you're working with will let you consider this possibility. But for now, I have very few options if I plan on ever attaining that position as Director and gaining the trust of the scientists whom I will need to cooperate with me."

I pause a moment here, looking around to be sure I have the attention of the room and trying not to let the looks of shock and - and _disgust_ affect me. "So. This is what is going to happen. In two days' time, I will be returning here with an escort of Coursers; I don't believe I need to tell you what will happen if we find anyone present. For the next six m- the next year, if we hear any reports of the Railroad continuing to operate, I promise you that I will _personally_ hunt down anyone involved, if need be, before I will allow my place in the Institute to be put at risk. In exactly one year, I will return here to discuss plans for the future and how we might work together to improve the lives of synths, both in and out of the Institute. I hope that my actions in the meantime suffice to show you that my good intentions are genuine, and I hope that I will see you when I return."

Silence reigns for a long moment after I have finished speaking, before it is broken by Desdemona; she unholsters her gun, casually, as she speaks. "And what's to stop us simply killing you, here and now?"

I smile very slightly, eyes serious above the expression, and try not to show it as my heart breaks at this, confirmation of the latest in my string of losses. _And the one you did the most to bring about all on your own, isn't it?_ "The Coursers already know the location of this base," I say. A slight exaggeration – only X6-88 knows, and only if he's been following me when I leave him behind to come here, but I would judge that a safe enough bet. "All that would do is move up the timetable of when they come for you. And, of course, there would be no possibility for future collaboration. I understand that this must be very difficult for you to swallow, but I hope you can see that freeing synths with the Institute's _cooperation_ down the line is worth putting your operations temporarily on hold."

Another long moment of silence, then Desdemona crosses the room to the board on the wall, striking a line through my codename with a steady hand. "Get out," she says, voice flat.

I incline my head to her, taking one last glance around to fix the memory of the place in my mind – _Glory, Glory, I'll miss you, I wish I had the chance to say goodbye, I'm sorry but I can't see any other way_ \- and head for the back exit, a prickle between my shoulderblades the whole time I go.

 


End file.
